Since Article 370 abrogation, 21 from minority communities killed, no Kashmiri Pandit left Valley: MoS in LS

“From August 5, 2019, till July 9, 2022, 128 security personnel and 118 civilians have been killed by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. Out of 118 civilians killed, five were Kashmiri Pandits and 16 belonged to other Hindu/Sikh communities. No pilgrim has been killed during this period,” MoS Home Nityanand Rai told Lok Sabha in a written reply to a question.

On being asked how many Kashmiri Pandits had migrated out of the Valley due to these recent killings, Rai said, “Under the Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP), 5,502 Kashmiri Pandits have been provided Government jobs in different departments of Govt. of Jammu and Kashmir in the Valley. Further, as per the records, no Kashmiri Pandit has reportedly migrated from the Valley during the said period.”

On August 5, 2019, the government had announced abolition of J&K’s special status and bifurcated it into two union territories on the ground that this would help tame terrorism and usher in development.

On May 31, after a female teacher was shot dead by terrorists in Kulgam district, an organisation of KP employees had threatened to leave the Valley if the government did not relocate them to safer places in 24 hours.

Rajni Bala, hailing from Samba district in Jammu division, was shot dead by terrorists on May 31 inside a government school in Kulgam where she was posted. Before her, Rahul Bhat, a clerk in the office of Chadoora Tehsildar in Budgam district was shot dead inside his office on May 12. These killings had followed a spate of such murders in October last year when Pandits, including famous Kashmiri pharmacy owner Makhan Lal Bindroo, and multiple migrant workers were shot dead by militants.

In the aftermath of the 2021 killings, many Kashmiri Pandits had left the Valley and fled to Jammu out of fear. Some Pandits, engaged in government service in Kashmir, have also accused the government of forcing them to stay in the Valley by threatening disciplinary action.

The government has repeatedly said it is taking all possible measures to ensure safety of all migrants in the Valley.

“The government has a policy of zero tolerance against terrorism and the security situation has improved significantly in Jammu and Kashmir. There has been substantial decline in terrorist attacks from 417 in 2018 to 229 in 2021,” Rai said on Wednesday.

The Modi government has been trying to resettle migrated Kashmiri Pandits back to the Valley. The progress on this front, however, has been rather slow.

“Government of India approved construction of 6,000 transit accommodations for Kashmiri Migrant employees engaged/to be engaged in different districts of Kashmir Valley under the Prime Minister’s Development Package-2015 (PMDP-2015) announced on 7.11.2015. Construction of 1,025 units has been completed/substantially completed, 1,872 units are at different stages of completion and work on remaining units has been taken up,” Rai said in reply to another question.

Meanwhile, the government told the Lok Sabha on Wednesday that state land (including Khalsa Sarkar, Kahchrie, Shamilat, etc.) measuring 2,359.45 hectares has been acquired by the government for various public purposes such as roads, including National Highways, railways, schools/colleges, playgrounds, parks, buildings, soil waste management, border fencing/border out posts, industrial estates etc. during the years 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-2022 (up to June 2022).

It also said that of the 8,565 hectares of land allotted under the Roshni Act scheme, it has been able to retrieve only over 1,300 hectares till date. These allotments had been cancelled by the J&K High Court.